Donnie Jones, 15, walked up to the bike rack at North High School after classes expecting to head home like any other day. Instead, he found his bicycle gone, along with three Yu-Gi-Oh trading card decks he had tucked away with it. Now his family is asking how someone got onto campus undetected in the first place.
Jones's mother, Tania Diaz, said her son called her upset after discovering the theft, and she went to pick him up, according to 23ABC News Bakersfield. Diaz said a campus police officer told her the suspect had entered North High School and hidden inside a restroom until students were dismissed for the day, at which point the bike and cards disappeared from the rack.
A Family Waits for Answers
The cards were not just a collection to Jones — he said he and his father collect them together regularly, playing the game whenever a new card is unlocked, per the station's report. Diaz said campus police have since identified a suspect, though no further details on that person have been released. In the meantime, Jones has been walking to school while his family waits for his belongings to be returned.
Despite the loss, Jones said he forgives the person he believes took his things and hopes their life improves. He said what he wants most is simply to get his belongings back so his father will stop worrying about him.
Mother Questions Campus Security
For Diaz, the bigger concern isn't the missing bike or cards — it's how an unauthorized adult could reportedly have gotten onto campus and stayed there undetected for hours. She said the possibility that a stranger had been hiding inside the school raised serious concerns about her son's safety, telling the outlet she felt nervous and scared and believes campus security should be better.
The Kern High School District had not responded to questions about how the man accessed campus or what security measures were in place, as of the time the station's report was posted. District materials describe a security structure at each comprehensive high school that includes a Dean of Students, a police officer and campus security personnel, according to the Kern High School District Police Department, which has operated since 1975.
District Protocols for Campus Threats
The district also says all of its school sites use the Standard Response Protocol, a system built around four actions — Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter — according to the Kern High School District. District materials state that intruders and other threats to student safety are scenarios the district plans and trains for.
North High has faced other campus safety incidents in recent years. A student was arrested on suspicion of bringing a firearm onto the campus, and the district said at the time that extra security was placed on campus while that investigation was underway, according to Bakersfield.com. In a separate incident, a student assaulted a campus security staff member who was attempting to break up a fight; the district said appropriate disciplinary action was being taken and that student and staff safety remained its first priority, per 23ABC's report.
For now, Jones keeps walking to school, still without his bike or his cards, as his family waits to hear more about how the theft happened and whether his belongings will be returned.
